Cleaning vat



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April 12, 1938. H. E. HUBBARD CLEANING VAT Filed April 15, 1955 m m E V W.

. ME. Hubbard ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 12, 1938 "UNITED STATES CLEANING VAT Houston E. Hubbard, Enid, kla., assignor of one-half to John S. Lemley, St. Louis, Mo.

Application April 15,

1 Claim.

My invention relates to cleaning vats and more particularly to a circulating cleaning vat.

At railroad repair shops periodically locomotives are subjected to an overhaul during which parts removed from the locomotives are scrubbed with a detergent solution to remove grease, paint, dirt and the like. It takes considerable time and labor to thoroughly clean large locomotive parts.

One object of my invention is to provide a cleaning vat or washing device in which means are provided for circulating the cleaning solution over the parts to be cleaned.

Another object of my invention is to provide a cleaning vat with circulating means having no moving parts.

Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of the instant specification and are to be read in 20 conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation with portions of the bafile broken away showing one form of cleaning vat embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on a line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on a line 3--3 of Figure 1.

In general, my invention contemplates the provision of heating means or the like positioned adjacent one side of the interior of a cleaning vat together with baffie means so'apertured as to provide rapid and violent circulation due to the thermal efiects produced.

More particularly referring now to the drawing, any suitable metal tank I is provided with a drain connection 2, to which is fitted a drain valve (not shown). A heating coil 4 is positioned adjacent one side wall of the tank I, or, if desired, may be positioned adjacent opposite side walls as shown in Figure 2. The heating coil 4 may be supported to the side walls in any suit able manner. In the drawing, I have shown a pipe coil 4, welded to a pair of metal strips 5. If desired, more than two metal strips may be used. The metal strips are provided with openings at their upper and lower ends, adapted to be aligned with similar openings in the sides of 30 the tank so that the coil may be secured to the side walls by means of bolts 6 as can readily be seen by reference to Figure 2. The openings in one of the brackets 5 are in the form of slots 5' to allow for expansion of the coil 4. Adjacent s5 the side walls which carry the heating means 4 1935, Serial No. 16,343

I provide baflles l which are secured at their upper ends 8 directly to the tank walls by welding or in any other suitable manner. The lower ends 9 of the baffles are spaced from the bottom ID of the tank and are supported by brackets H placed 5 at suitable intervals. Brackets may be secured to the baffles and to the bottom of the tank It! by welding or in any other suitable manner. One end l2 of the pipe coil projects through the upper portion of the side of the tank and the other end l3 of the pipe coil 4 projects through the lower portion of the side wall of the tank. The end 12 of the pipe coil is connected to a source of live steam and the other end I 3 of the pipe coil is connected to an exhaust steam main or to a drain.

The bafiies 1 are provided near their lower portions with a plurality of openings I4 and near their upper portions with openings l5 of smaller area than openings l4. 20

In operation, the tank is filled with a detergent solution such as an aqueous solution of lye or the like to a level in the vicinity of openings l5. The level may be such that openings [5 are partially submerged in the cleaning solution. The parts to be cleaned are placed in the vat and the steam supplied to the heating coil or coils. Due to the fact that a comparatively small volume of cleaning solution is partially confined between the bafiie and the side walls and is subjected to rapid local heat exchange, a violent convection flow is set up as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. The movement of the detergent solution thus created washes the grease, paint and the like from the parts to be cleaned. Considerable pressure may be created by the partial vaporization of a portion of the cleaning fluid. This pressure is opposed by the hydraulic head of the cleaning solution at the bottom so that the cleaning solution will be ejected from the openings I5 at the top. The parts are well cleaned by the combined action of the detergent, the heat, and the mechanical action of the liquid. They may be then removed and inspected for cracks and defects.

It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of my claim. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of my claim without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In a device of the character described a tank having a side wall, a baffle formed with apertures adjacent the top and bottom thereof, said baifle positioned in spaced relation to said side wall and having its upper edge secured to said side wall and its lower edge spaced from said side wall and the bottom of said tank, the area of each of said apertures adjacent the bottom of said baffle being greater than the area of each of the apertues adjacent the top of said baffie, and heating means positioned in said tank between said bafiie and said side wall, said heating means being adapted to heat liquid between said baflie and said side wall to a sufiicient extent to create a convection flow.

HOUSTON E. HUBBARD. 

